Río Secreto: Mexico's Secret Underground River

What are you afraid of? I have two things that come to mind when I think of fears. The first one caused me to pass out on the top of a roller coaster in the Mall of America – not my finest moment and definitely a story for a different day. And the second one usually leaves me in awe of the planet and humans – once I get over the fact that I might end up buried underneath feet, sometimes miles, of rock if it were to come crashing down.

Río Secreto is a series of underground rivers and caves outside Playa del Carmen.

During the ride from the resort to the site, I couldn’t shake the what if’s running through my mind. Most of them ending in my impending doom. Usually, I am that unlucky of a person.

Read More: Where to Stay in Mexico: The Grand Mayan

After the bouncy ride, hiking through the Mexican jungle, and a blessing from a shaman, we finally reached the opening of the cave. Words cannot describe looking up from the bottom and seeing things from a slightly different perspective.

The deeper we went into the cave the darker it got. Eventually, the only light was coming from our headlamps. I was a little bummed that mine seemed to be running out of batteries, but I still was able to see tons of incredible things with my sad little light.

At one point about halfway through the hike, we were instructed to turn off our headlamps. We floated in the chest-high water and just be. Water dripped from a far off stalactite.

Drip. Drop. Drip. Drop.

Sitting there in the dark listening to the cave, all I could think about was how incredible this place is.

The photos on the brochure at the resort were stunning, but nothing can really prepare you for being there, underground seeing everything with your eyes.

The Tour

Before the tour even started, there was an announcement that we were not allowed to bring cameras into the cave. Being a photographer, I was really disappointed. I had just gotten a fancy schmancy waterproof/shockproof (read: Niki proof) camera that I was excited to test out. It turned out for the better since I was so focused on not tripping and falling face first into the water.

Each tour group has a photographer that follows you through the cave snapping photos of everyone along the way. The only catch is if you want photos, you have to buy them. In the end, it was a pretty good deal, photos and 3 bottles of the green “Mayan Tequila.”